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Six-Figure Compensation For Woman After Mistake Made During Gastric Band Surgery

Our surgery negligence lawyers have helped a woman claim compensation after mistakes made during gastric band surgery left her in intensive care with serious complications.

Mary Samy, from Leeds, had the surgery at Dolan Park Hospital in Bromsgrove in July 2013. The hospital discharged her one day later with no care plan even though she had ongoing symptoms such as nausea and abdominal pain.

“Following the surgery I was in a really bad way, so I was completely shocked when I was told that I was fine to return home,” said Mary. “No one gave me any advice on issues I should consider to help my recovery and then I was not contacted at all. I just felt like I had been completely ignored.”

Mary still felt unwell a couple of weeks later and asked nursing staff at the hospital if this was normal. They advised that she should continue taking anti-sickness medication and call again if sickness persisted.

Mary’s condition continued to deteriorate and she was admitted to St James’ University Hospital in Leeds just days after she spoke to the Dolan Park staff. Doctors at St James’ diagnosed her with a perforated oesophagus, an abscess, and sepsis.

Mary needed emergency surgery and prolonged intensive care treatment to repair the damage done in her original gastric band procedure and spent 11 weeks in hospital.

She contacted our specialist medical negligence solicitors and asked us to look into what had gone wrong. We were able to secure a six-figure settlement to compensate Mary for her suffering.

“I feel lucky to be alive, which is not something anyone should ever have to say following routine surgery,” she said. “The whole ordeal was an absolute nightmare which I would not wish on my worst enemy.

“Gaining the settlement is a big step forward, but for me this legal action was always about more than money. No one else should ever have to face what I have been through."

Margaret Ryan, an associate solicitor at our Leeds office, worked on Mary’s case. She said:

“This is a truly shocking incident in which a patient has been forced to battle very serious illness as a result of problems which could and should have been avoided during surgery.

“While we are delighted to have helped our client secure justice regarding her ordeal, our hope is that lessons can be learned from this incident so that no one else undergoing such a procedure either on the NHS or privately faces the same problems in the future.

“Patient safety should always be a fundamental priority and the failings seen in this case simply should not be repeated.”